When You Sleep
by MilleGirl
Summary: Levy and Gajeel reflect on their feelings about each other right before they battle some of the Spriggan 12. Based on Chapter 471 of the manga and onward. I will try to keep this as canon as possible. Inspired by the song "When You Sleep" by Mary Lambert. Rating may go up.
1. One Foot In Front Of The Other

When You Sleep

* * *

 _Hello! This is my first story and I would appreciate it if you could review it._

* * *

 _Levy's POV_

Standing here waiting for the battle to start is slowly wearing on me. As I look around at my fellow guild mates, I realize how statistically low it is for me to survive. The Strauss siblings all have powerful forms of take-over magic. Pantherlily can transform into his battle form and has extensive knowledge on battle strategies and combat styles. And Gajeel… well he's too awe-inspiring to even begin to describe how powerful to discuss. He's just stands there and you can you feel the power ripple off of him. It's terrifying for his opponents and even his comrades sometimes, but right now it's more of a comfort right now.

He stands at attentions sniffing the air while tilting his head, His intense burgundy eyes are sweeping around the surrounding territory using his enhanced sense to gage the position of the enemy. I always feel a little guilty watching him worried he thinks that I am some sort of closet pervert.

Knowing now that I probably won't survive, I decide that I will stare him as long as I can, to remember as much as I can, so that when I die I can reflect on him, remember him as he was, and know as much I want to tell him I love him.

I did not know when she realized that Gajeel meant more to her than a comrade. She knew when she had feared him when after he crucified Jet, Droy, and her to the tree and painted her stomach with the emblem of Phantom Lord. She remembers the exact moment when she accepted him into the guild, the moment when he protected her from Laxus' lightning bolt. She remembers the moment she knew he wanted to change during the Battle of Fairy Tail, when he helped her try to break Freed's runes.

She could feel a tentative friendship being built with him when they returned from Edolas and Pantherlily becoming his friend. Anytime she watched those two interact it made her think of how proud Gajeel was to find Lily. Every once and a while, when Gajeel and Lily would pass by her, they would briefly talk to her even though Jet and Droy would glare at him the whole time. It was probably in those moments, when she forgave him.

It was probably during the S-class trials that changed everything. Picking her, literally, he picked her and claimed that he could make her big, much to Jet's and Droy's dismay. Although for most of it he constantly complained or picked on her for her height with such creative names like, "Shrimp, Shorty, Chibi," and so on.

No! It was the moment when they were attacked and he looked at me and told me, "It is really hard looking for someone so small, so don't leave my side please." That was it! Fighting together, him protecting me, and the silly heart in the iron I made him, even my magic knew before I realized it.

I have to smile over that because it was so obvious. The Grand Magic Games and fighting the dragons was intense, watching him fight, then watching him run off to battle dragons was when I knew I could say it to him and mean it.

Then Tartarus and the Council happened. Even though we worked together, he was training or in the middle of missions and I was infiltrating Avatar, and we became closer, but I knew I couldn't tell him because he didn't feel the same way and the Council has no fraternization rules.

Fairy Tail's rebirth, I thought I could do it and Lucy and the rest of the girls said I should, but I kept chickening out. I was scared to lose my friendship with him. He even let me come over and sleep at his house before the battle. The two things I can never tell him is the way I gave him air and how much I love him.


	2. Keep Breathing Just Like They Taught You

**Hello! Sorry for not posting for awhile but voila! Chapter 2 is here!**

 **Again, please review! Criticisms, compliments, and highlighting my mistakes will help make my story stronger!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Gajeel's POV_

I didn't mind doin' the first watch. 'Sides, who could sleep over Elfbrain's overly loud snoring. That's one thing that he's "manly" about. Demon and her sister are somehow managing to sleep through it. Lily is passed out behind the rock over by the campsite. Shrimp somewhere nearby overthinking again. You can tell by the way her breathin' changes and the way she starts mutterin' in different languages.

Levy… The one thing that I want that I shouldn't and can't have. Thinkin' about her is like writing a song. Pieces and parts of melodies and harmonies coming together and making something beautiful, like the way even after the shit I put her and her lapdogs through, she still kept trying to talk to me and help me. She would smile and treat me like nothing happened.

She's said that she's forgiven me multiple times, after Laxus tried to hit her, after Tenrou, she kept saying it. Even though she's forgiven me, I can never forgive myself. It's not a sin to fall in love, but she's the one thing I can't ruin. After the fuckin' fish demon was defeated, I wanted to ask her why she gave me air through mouth to mouth rather than she just write it up, but I can't. She would never feel the same about me.

 _Levy's POV_

I walk up to him. He's crouched down, surveying the territory surrounding us. The way he tilts his head and leans his body makes me smile. He has definitely dragon-like qualities in him. Shaking my head, I remember what I had come to talk to him about.

"Aren't you going to rest Gajeel?" I ask quietly.

"Huh, like you're one to talk," he retorts.

Resolved, I decide that I can be honest with him. "The enemy we're up against this time is way different then what we've been dealing with…To be honest, my powers can't even begin compare to everyone else's. I guess I'm a little spooked now.

 _Whoosh!_ An iron pole shoots from the ground. Irritated, I yell at him. "Gajeel!" as more appear surrounding me. Burgundy eyes glare down at me.

"I'm gonna arrest you for complaining, you know."

"Sorry," I begin to say, but then he talks again.

"I'll arrest you and lock you up in the guild's prison for sure."

All I can do is smile because even though we're about to fight for our lives, he can still make me smile with our inside jokes.

"Okay."

Gajeel will always be a part of me. He once was a villain, a character that consumed my thought and nightmares, a constant plague. He became an ally, shedding his past to stand alongside with us. To fight with Fairy Tail and everything we believed in. He became my partner, no, he demanded to be my partner, and I didn't refuse.

He was my friend, pushing and prodding me to become better, stronger, and bigger. I feel in love with him. The real him, the struggling musician, the iron softie who just wanted a cat, the passionate dragon within a giant pierced human.

So I promise you Gajeel, I will be big in this fight. I know I won't survive, but I will protect you and make sure you have a home to go back to. I will stay by your side since it is sometimes so hard to find the small me. I will make our Guild proud, our family happy, and Pantherlily safe.

Most of all, I will show you how much I love you, because loving you has made me big.

* * *

 **Anyone read this week's manga chapter? BECAUSE I AM FREAKING OUT! GAJEVY=CANON! MY OTP HAS DONE IT!**

 **CUE OBNOXIOUS NOISES MAKERS, SIRENS, AND APPLAUSE!**


End file.
